John plait and thomas thorp



(No Model.)

' J. PLATT & T. THORP.

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING BOILER TUBES. No. 451,841.

Patented May 5, 1891.

fnvenfim' .6 1 1.72

UNITED STATES PA'rENi OFFICE.

JOHN PLATT AND THOMAS THORP, OF SALFORD, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING BOILER-TUBES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 451,841, dated May 5, 1891.

Application filed March 18, 1890. Renewed April 6, 1891. Serial No. 387,735. (No modelJ- Patented in England August 6,

188.9,N0. 12,382, and in France September 10,1889,N0. 200,687.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN PLATT and THOMAS THORP, subjects of the Queen of Great Britain, and residing at Salford, in the county of Lancaster, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Cleaning the Interior of Boiler- Tubes and other Tubes, (for which we have obtained a patent in Great Britain, bearing date August 6, 1889, No. 12,382, and in France September 10, 1889, No. 200,687,) of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in apparatus for cleaning the interior of the tubes employed in steam-boilers, as well as other tubes employed in manufacturing proce'sses.

Our improved apparatus is composed of a number of cutters bedded on an elastic foundation, the cutters and the foundation being supported between two metal collars or ends, the whole being mounted upon a suitable stem or handle. Each cutter is formed with teeth or serrations either straight or beveled on its outer face, and each cutter is preferably bedded on its elastic foundation with its outting-edges facing in the opposite direction to that of the cutting-edges of the cutters on each side of it.

In order that our invention may be fully understood and readily carried into efiect, we will describe the accompanying sheet of drawings, reference being had to the letters marked thereon.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a tubecleaner constructed according to our invention; and Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the plane of the line A B, Fig. 1.

In the Views, a designates the cutters, which are bedded on a tube or foundation b of elastic or yielding material. The rows of cutters a are confined between the two metal collars c c, which are screwed upon or otherwise secured to a handle d, on which is also screwed a nut e. The handle cl in this instance is shown as a hollow stem or tube, for the purpose hereinafter described.

WVhen the apparatus is placed inside the tube and moved backward and forward either by hand or power applied to the handle cl, the cutters a scrape and clean the deposit from the interior of the tube, the elastic foundation I) permitting the cutters to yield when they encounter the seams or other hard inequalities in the tube. In order to make the scraping and cleaning action of the apparatus more effective, steam or other fluid under pressure may be supplied through the hollow stem (1 and passing through the aperture c to the interior of the elastic foundation 1), thereby expands the latter and so keeps the cutters a expanded against the interior of the tube.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, isa The improved tube-cleaner having a series of cutters or scrapers supported on a hollow elastic foundation capable of expansion by the application of fluid under pressure, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN PLATT. THOS. TI-IORP. \Vitn ess es:

H. B. BARLOW, S. W. GILLETT. 

